Machine for folding and severing paper



P. D. PARSONS.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING AND SEVERING PAPER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 29, 19]?- Ptented 001124, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P. D. PARSONS.

MACHINE FOR. FOLDING AND SEVERING PAPER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 29, I917.

1A38,M8. Patented Oct. 24,1922.

F j G. g; 150 I 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FJQJZ F P. D. PARSONS. MACHINE FO R FOLDING AND SEVERING PAP-ER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 29, I917.

Patented Oct. 24, 1922.

4 SHE'ETSSHEET 3.

ijwueutoz o o o m attouwg P. D., PARSONS. MACHINE FOR FOLDING AND SEVERING PAPER.

APPLICATION FHJED JAN. Z9, 19.17..

Wanted Oct. 24,1922,

'4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

patentfi Oct. 2%, i222.

PHILIP PARSONS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO SCOTT PAPER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

MAOH INE FOR FOLDING-AND SEVERING PAPER.

Application filcd January 29, 1917. Serial No. 145,161,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP D. PARsoNs, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Machines for Folding and Severing Paper, of which the following is a specification.

increasing use of paper towels has resulted in the adoption of better means for dispensing the same, and one of the best means is a cabinet containin the paper towels ready cut and folded. y invention relates to improvements in paper towel folding machines which prepare paper for use in such towel cabinets.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved paper towel folding machine capable of converting suitable paper supplied in web form, into cut and folded paper towels in counted batches and capable of operating in a reliable and efiicient manner.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved paper tdwel folding machine requiring a minimum of attendance; a machine which is practically continuous' in its operation and in which the functions of feeding, folding, cutting and counting the paper towels are automatically performed. More specifically considering my invention, I provide a means adaptable for holding a roll of paper, a suitable power driven device capable of causing the paper web to be fed through the machine, means capable of folding the paper into the desired form, a device capable of cutting the folded paper into fixed predetermined lengths, and a means to deliver the folded papers of.fixed length (constituting towels) in counted batches.

My invention also consists of improvements hereinafter described whereby the above objects and results are attained, said improvements comprising certain organization and combination of parts which are fully described hereinafter and more particularly defined in the claims.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown in the accompanying drawings the embodiment thereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same is in form to give satisfactory and reliable results, but it is to be understood that the several instrumentalities of which my invention consists, can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities herein shown and described.

Referring to the drawings :F igs. 1, 2 and 3 should beconsidered to other as showing aplan view of the mac ine in which Fig. 1 shows the left-hand end; Fig. 2 the center part, and Fig. 3 the right-hand end; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 should be considered in a similar manner as showing in elevation the same machine shown in plan in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; Fig. 7 is a detail of the mechanism for delivering and counting the folded paper towels; Fig. 8 is a plan view of the formers over which the paper is given its final folds; Fig. 9 is an edge View of the same; Fig. 10 is a cross sect1on of the paper web when folded two ply; Fig. 11 is a cross section of the same when the flaps are folded vinto position to make the completed towel;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of one of the.

completed paper towels; and Fig' 13 is a skeleton perspective view showing the general relation of the parts which finally act upon the folded paper web and sever it into towel lengths.

The complete machine consists of means adapted for holding the roll of paper comprising a spindle and supporting frame, means capable of folding the paper into the desired form comprising formers and rolls, a suitable power driven device capable of causing the paper to be fed through the machine comprising friction rolls, a device capable of cutting the folded paper into predetermined lengths comprising a revolving knife mechanism, and a means to deliver the folded paper towels in assembled and preferably counted batches comprising a conveyor belt and cam actuated counting mechanism. 7

The means for holding the roll of paper comprises a suitable spindle 2 which carries the roll of paper 3, and a suitable frame 4. supporting the ends of said spindle 2 (Fi s. 1 and 4:). There is also provided a bra e shoe 5 which bears against the circumference of the roll and isfixed to the end of a brake lever 7. The pressure with which the brake shoe bears on the roll is ad usted by means of the helical spring 8 secured at one end to the brake lever 7 and at the other end fastened over one of a plurality of hooks 9. It is apparent that fastening the spring to the upper hooks 9 will increase the spring tension-and consequently the frictional pressure of the brake shoe on-the roll. The object of this adjustable braking device is to retard the unrolling of the paper by ust that amount necessary to kee the paper web taut. If the retardation of t e roll of paper he too great, it increases the power consumed in driving the machine and may even cause the paper web to break; if it be too slight, the paper tends to unroll 'due to the inertia of the roll and tends to im ede the folding device. For the purpose 0 facilitating the operation of placing a new roll of paper in the machine, I have pro- .vided two levers 10' having a hook-shaped socket portion 11 extendin under the roll spindle 2, said levers ivote on pins 12, and said pins aflixed to me 4 and acting as guides for the slots 13 of said levers 10. It will be seen that these levers 10 have a lonitudinal adjustability of the length of the lot 13 and as shown, are in their upper vertical position as assumed just after lifting the spindle 2 and pa r ro linto position to be supported by the. earings 4. When the machlne is operating, the levers lOnormally will be in their lower vertical position with the pins 12 against the upper parts of the slots 13.

The brake lever 7 has a projection 14 near its ivotal or-hinge point 15 capable of recelving the dog 16, to keep the brake 5 out of contact with the paper roll when applying a new roll of paper. The dog 16 has a treadle lever 17 attached thereto whereby pressure on the treadle disengages the dog from the projection and permits the brake to be apphed to the paper roll.

To insert a new roll of paper, the empty slpindle is first lifted from the bearings 4. he lever 7 is then thrown down so that the dog 16 en ages the projection 14 and thus holdsthe ever in its lowest position. Then levers 10 are swung to the left and lowered until theirupper ends reach the floor and 'form inclined guides between which the new roll of paper is rolled until the ends of its spindle or shaft 2 thereof strikes said guide portions of the levers and then the levers 10 are raised and the spindle ends caused to roll along the uide surfaces of the levers and rest in the 00k bearings 11 thereof; The levers are then raised further into a vertical position as shown in Fig. 4, and the under curved part of the lower socket portion of the levers seats in the bearings 4 and retains them in the vertispindle or shaft 2 for the roll of paper 3.

The levers 10 in seatin in the bearin s 4 slide upon the pins 12 t rough the me ium of the slots 13 before referred to, these slots being sufiicient in length to ermit the levers to be placed in or remove from the bearin 4, as will be readily understood by re erence to Fig. 4. It will be noted that when the levers 10 are in vertical position, they are held in that position by the ins 12 and the seating capacity which they lihve in the bearin 4. The treadle lever 17 is now presse down, disen aging the dog 16 and allowing the brake %ever 7 to rise and the brake shoe 5 forced a ainst the paper roll under sprin action. he pa er is now unrolled by and and three ed through the machine previously to applying the power.

The means capable of folding the paper into the desired form comprise a horizontal guide roll 18 supported above a suitable table 19. The paper feeds at full width over this roller and then over an inverted V-sha ed folder comprising a cross bar 20 sli ht V shaped and downwardly flaring si e p ates 21 integral with the bar. In passing over the cross bar 20 of the folder and by reason of its shape, the pa er may receive a slight crease approximateiy at the center which enables it to follow easily the upper central edge 22 forming the union of the side plates 21. At the delivery end 2'3 of the folder, the paper has been folded once on a lon itudinal seam and it is now two-ply and in vertical position with the fold at the top. A fold adjustment device is here rovided comprising two vertical guide ro s 24 mounted on a horizontal extension 25 carried by the said folder plates 21. The paper passes from the folder between said rods and guided thereby. A yoke piece 26 is fastened to the table 19 and is provided with oppositely directed adjustmg screws 27 between which the extension 25 is arranged, and by which its position and the delivery end 23 of the folder may be atljusted. This adjustment is permitted by .reason of the fact that the folder is supported upon a pivot 28 about which it may swing laterally. By this means the exact position of the crease or fold in the paper may be insured. This results in the aper being folded over uniformly or unequa ly as desired, that is to say, the line of the fold' by the adjustment above described. This is 0 clearly indicated in Fig. 12, which shows a aper towel complete.

From t e Vertical guide rods 24 the folded paper web passes under a horizontal'guide roller 29 which is arranged at an angle across the table 19 to bring the two-pl web into a horizontal plane- The ends 0 said uide. roller are supported in adjustable earings 30 such that the angularityand exact position of the roller may be adjusted to regulate the exact position of the longtudinal fold to cause a sli ht difference 11] widths of the layers or p 'esof the sheet when folded into two-ply (Fig. 10) to insure the free edges comm into alinement after the subsequent foldlng of the flaps 108 and 108" (Fig. '11) has been made. While the folder, first described, may be adjusted to position themiddle fold, this latter is positively defined and fixed by a strong crease caused in passing under the roller 29; and. by having one or the other end of this roller higher, the exact position of the crease can be varied to cause a greater or less difierence in the widths of the twoply layers forenabling the special flap fold 108 to be made with the free edges in alinement,.as described hereinafter. The bearings 30 have vertical shanks 30 adjustably clamped in socket portions 30 by the set screws 30.

Adjacent to the ide roller 29 is a transverse horizontal guide rod 31 set close to the table and beneath which the folded paper web passes. At this point the paper bems to receive its final or flap folds. This 1i 1 a1 folding is accom lished by drawing the paper through a ormer 32 having a loose die plate 33 around which the paper passes and over which the side portions are folded. This former comprises, in addition to the plate 33, a bottom plate 34 and two side flap folding plates 49 and 50 leaving a gap 52 be.- tween their ad'acent edges. These plates 49 and 50 are bri ged by a bar 51 (connected to plate 50) forming an abutment above plate 33 against which the rib 53 on said plate 33 abuts to hold it from being drawn alo with the paper web. These s1de plates an bottom plate are fastened to the table 19 in any suitable manner, preferably detachable to permit change in formers when the relation and widths of the towel flaps are required to be changed.

The paper web, after passing from the oblique or diagonally arranged roller 29, is caused to have its edges (in act of folding side flaps) guided under rods 40 extendin laterally from opposite sides of the we (Figs. 3 and 6). and these are held by vertically adjustable brackets 42 having slots 34 and clamping screws 35.

The suitable power driven device capable of causing the paper to feed through the machine comprises the friction rolls 43, 54, 69 and 55.- The rolls 55 operate as a pair and are geared together at 55. As the paper travels along the table. 19, it asses between embossing rolls 41 and 43. he roll 41 is carried by spindle 56 in bearing 57 and is positively rotated. The roll 43 is fixed on a shaft 58 having at one endthe bevel gear 59 driven by bevel gear 60. The said gear 60 is secured to shaft 61 carried in suitable bearings 62 and 63. Shaft 61 also carries a bevel gear 64 driven by bevel gear 65 the latter being mounted on the main shaft 66 which is drlven by pulley 67. In the present instance I have shown an electric motor 68 driving this pulley by a belt 68. Thus the roll 43 is driven tofeed the paper through the folder devices of the machine. Fixed to the main shaft 66 is a friction roll 54. The folded paper passes between this roll and a free running pressure roll 69 located directly above it and carried by shaft 70 and suitable bearings 71. The roll 69 is caused to bear on the folded paper with considerable pressure by means ofthe weight 72 adjustably secured to the lever arm 73 by a locking device 74. The lever arm 73 passes through a yoke 75 and bears on its upper edge at the far end against a fulcrum 76. The yoke 75 transmits the pressure due to the lever 73 and weight 72 to the roll 69 through suitable links 77. Thus the folded .paper is held against roll 54 by roll 69 and is positively fed by said roll 54. The folded paper is thus flattened and drawn along by the friction rolls 55. The lower of these friction rolls 55 is' mounted on a shaft 78 having a sprocket 79 driven by a chain 80 from a sprocket 81 on the main shaft 66. The shaft 7 8 is geared to the shaft 78 of the upper of the friction rolls 55. After the folded paper has been cut, (as below described), it is still in contact with rolls 55 and is delivered by them into a suitable compartment 81. n

The device capable of cutting the folded paper into fixed predetermined lengths consists of a knife 82 fastened to a large disc 83 and extending radially. The said disc is slidably mounted on a shaft 84 driven by a bevel gear 85 from the bevel gear 65 on the main shaft 66. The other or fixed cutting edge for the knife is placed beneath the paper as at 86. To cause the knife to rotate true to cooperate with the fixed cutter 86,

the large disc 83 is pressed against a large flat surface on the main frame by a spring 87 on the shaft 84. This spring 87 bears at one end against the washer and nut 88 of the shaft and at the other end against a suitable hub on the disc. This disc is suitably mounted on shaft 84 so as to permit of slight movement along the shaft while at the same time being driven by it.

It will be readily apparent that by changwhich the towels are delivered from thefriction rolls 55. The end of the towel strikes a curved metal guide 89 and is forced down on a transversely moving conveyor belt 90. The guide 89 is mounted on a hlnge 91 so that when desired, it may be swung back for inspection of the interior of comis driven by a chain 95 from sprocket wheel 96 on shaft 78 of the friction rolls 55. Thus the heater is caused to make one revolution for each towel cut, and forces the forward end of the towel down on conveyor belt 90.

l The said conveyor belt passes over a free running upper guide pulley 97 and a driven lower pulley 98 (Fig. 7). The lower pulley is driven by a sprocket wheel 99 fixed on pulley shaft 100 by a chain 101 and sprocket wheel 102. This latter is mounted on a shaft. 103 carrying a worm gear 104 driven by a worm 105 on the main shaft 66.

The devices thus described will deliver the folded towels in a successive manner on the conveyor belt 90, said towels overlapping owing to the travel of the belt. To keep the edges of the towels in alinement upon the belt, suitable guide plates 106 are provided.

To divide the towels into counted batches, a vertical stop gate 107 is caused to descend into the moving batch of towels 108, whereby the towels in the compartment 81 are dammed or held back momentarily to provide a space between the-batches of towels 108 at regular predetermined intervals. The said gate 107 is mounted on a vertical pin 109 carried by a suitably formed push rod 110. The lower end of this push rod rests on a lever 111 pivoted at 112. The lever 111 is -held by a spring 113 against a cam 114,

' recess 115 formed mounted on shaft 103, said cam having a in its circumference. When the lever 111 is pulled into recess 115 by spring 113, the push rod 110 is allowed to descend vertically and consequently the stop gate 107 descends at the same time. The batch of towels behind stop gate 107 of necessity are dammed or come to. rest, while those ahead are fed forward on conveyor belt 90. When the cam has been rotated sufliciently, the lever 111 moves out Within this said compart of recess 115 and the push rod 110 and stop gate 107 are caused to rise again. The batch of towels then continue to travel forward on conveyor belt 90 but with a space between the towels which were caught by the stop gate and those which went forward beyond it. It will be apparent that the action of the stop gate occurs at each rotation of the cam 114 which is positivel driven from the main shaft 66 througfi shaft 103. Hence the batches into which the towels are divided will comprise a definite number of towels depending on the ratio of gearin'g between the main shaft 66 and cam shaft 103.

In operation, after the roll of paper is secured as already described, the paper is threaded by hand over guide roll 18 through the folder 21 and vertical guide rods 24, under-roller 29 and uide rod 31, and under guide rods 40. It,1s then passed between rolls 41 and 43, then folded over the loose former plate 33 and through the former, and into the feed rolls 54 and 69. The motor 68 is then put in motion. This rotates the pulley 67 and in turn the friction feed rolls 43 and 54. In conse uence the paper feeds throu h in folded form and is received by t e tension and feed rolls 55; then the knife 82 cuts off towels of the desired length, The tension maintained upon the paper between the rolls 55 and rolls 54,

the said belt in conjunction with the stop gate 107, and places them in separate bands or cases.

In Fig. 10, is shown the folded web after leaving the rollers 29 and 31 and in which it will be noted that the upper ply is of less width'than the lower ply. In Fig. 11 the flaps are folded over by the former 33, etc.,

and it will be noted that in this case the free edges of the paper plies are in vertical alinement, the difference in the bends having readjusted the plies. Had the plies been of the same width in Fig. 10, the upper free edges'in Fig. 11 would have been considerably to the left of the free edge of the under flap and hence undesirable.

It is also to be understoodthat while I have described my machine for the manufacture of paper towels, the folded papers may be utilized as napkins or for other purposes, if so desired.

It will be apparent that by changing the former plate 33 with its accompanying arts to similar devicesof slightly different fhrm the paper towels may be folded in substantially any desired manner as to width of or lapping of the flaps. Changing the former may, however, necessitate some adjustment of the feed and folding devices such as guide roll 29, guide rods 40, and the embossing roll 41. For instance where a towel is folded with uneven folds it may be necessary to adjust one rod 40 higher than the opposite rod 40, and to move the embossing roll 41 along its shaft 56. It should also be noted that whereas themachine is shown as motor driven, yet it could as easily be driven from any other source of power, belted or geared to the main shaft 66.

From the foregoing, it'will be seen that I have invented a machine capable of converting suitable paper supplied in roll form into cut and folded paper towels in counted batches. The parts of which the machine is composed are easily accessible and are capable of strong mechanical design which insures their *reliable operation. The power required is utilized in overcoming the friction of the paper against the folders, formers and guides and in overcoming the frictional losses in the drivin mechanism. The loss due to the friction o the paper may be reduced to a minimum by adjustment of the paper tension, adjustment of the guides and of the formers through the means described. The frictional losses in the drive have been kept low by simple design. It will also be noted that when once the machine has been started, further operation is continuous and automatic and the operator has nofurther duty save that of lifting out the counted batches of folded towels.

It will now be apparent that I have de vised a novel and useful construction whichembodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which is best suited to give satisfactory and reliable results in practice, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit. or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. 4

No claim is made in this application to the mechanism for bunching of the several paper articles produced, the same constitutin matter for a divisional application.

aving now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine of the character stated, the combination of means for folding a web of paper longitudinally to form a two-ply web, adjustable means at the delivery end of the folding means for adjusting the folding means transversely, whereby the line of .the fold may be adjusted, former means for again folding the two-ply web longitudinally upon two parallel lines to provide a body and oppositely directed lateral flap portions, and means for severing the folded web into short lengths to form articles.

2. In a machine of the character stated, the combination of means for folding a web of paper longitudinally to form a two-ply web, adjustable means for controlling the folding to cause one ply to be wider than the other by a redetermined amount, former means for fiilding the two-ply web longitudinally upon two parallel lines to provide a body and lateral flap portions, means for severing the folded web into short lengths to form articles, and means for assembling the articles so produced into batches of equal numbers.

3. In a machine of the character stated, the combination of means for folding a web of paper longitudinally to form a two-ply web, adjustable means for controlling the folding to cause one ply to be wider than the other b a predetermined amount, former means or folding the two-ply -web longitudinally upon two parallel lines to provide a body and lateralflap portions, means for severing the folded web into short lengths to form articles, a laterally moving apron upon which the severed paper articles are delivered, means for directlng the articles upon the apron so that they overlap each other laterally, and means for arresting the conveyance of the articles upon the apron at intervals of time.

4. In a machine of the character stated, the combination of means for folding a web of paper longitudinally into a two-ply web with a second foldin means comprising a former having opposltely directed folding guides by which the two-ply web is provided with oppositely directed flaps, two pair of feed rolls through which the folded paper web is successively fed, a rotating shaft having a radial cutter blade arranged to revolve intermediately of the two pair of feed rolls in a plane parallel to their axes to sever the folded web into short lengths to form articles, connecting means for. causing the cutter and feed rolls to move at definite relative speeds, and means to receive the severed paper articles and feed them successively laterall out of the path of the following travellmg articles.

5. In a machine of the character stated, the combination of means for folding aweb of paper longitudinally into multi-ply with oppositely directed flaps, two pair of feed rolls through which the multi-ply paper web is successively fed, a rotating shaft having a radial cutter blade arranged to revolve intermediately of the two pair of feed rolls to sever the web into short lengths to form articles, connecting means for causing the cutter and feed rolls to move at definite relative speeds, and means to receive the severed paper articles and feed them successively laterally outof the path of traveling multi-ply web, comprising a laterally traveling apron, a rotating beater to depress the endof the article toward the apron, a device for holding the paper articles to the apron and in overlappmg relation to each other.

6. In a machine of the character stated, the combination of means for fol'din a web of paper longitudinally into multiy with opposltely directed flaps, two pair of feed rolls through which the multi-ply paper web is successively fed, a rotating shaft havin a radial cutter blade arranged to revo ve intermediately of the two pair of feed rolls to sever the web into short lengths to form articles, connecting means for 'causlng the cutter and feed rolls to move at definite relativespeeds, and-means for holding the cutter up to its work consisting of a arge disc rotating with the shaft but longitudinally movable upon it and upon which the radial cutter is secured, a flat surface on the frame of the machine upon which the disc revolves, and spring devices on the shaft for constantly pressing the disc against the flat surface.

7. Ina machine of the character stated,

the combination of means for folding a web of paper longitudinally in multi-ply, a pair of feed rolls for the folded paper, power means to rotate the lower roll of the pair, means for permitting raising and lowering the upper roll of the pair, weighted means for forcing the upper roll toward the lower driven roll, a second pair of feed .rolls, a radial cutter movable in a plane between the two pairs of rolls and parallel to their axes, for severing the web to form articles of substantial uniform lengths, means for receiving and assembling the articles produced by severing the multi-ply web of paper.

8. In a machine of the character stated, a supportfor a roll of paper, combined with a folder for folding the paper longitudinally into a two-ply web, an obliquely arranged roller under which the two-ply web is drawn, former meansfor folding the sides of the two-ply web toward each other to form oppositely directed flaps, means to sever the prepared web into articles of short lengths, and. means for adjusting the oblique roller to vary the position of the middle fold of the web when folded into two-ply.

9. In a machine of the character stated, a support for a roll of paper, combined with a folder for folding the paper longitudinally into a two-ply web, an obliquely arranged roller under which the two-ply web is drawn, former means for folding the sides of the twolyweb toward each other to form opposite v directed flaps, means to sever the prepare web into articles of short length and means for adjusting the folder lateral y at its delivery end to vary the position of the middle fold of the web.

10. In -a machine of the character stated, the combination of a support for a paper roll, a folder for folding the web into a twoply web consistin ofa transverse guide, a pivoted inverted ll-shaped folder substantially horizontal at one endand vertical at the other, two parallelvertical rods close together near to the vertical end of the folder and to the rear or delive side of the pivot and folder, means :for a justing the vertical end of the iolder and its rods transversely, a horizontal guide roller arranged obliquely to the line of travel ofthe paper web adjacent to the lower ends of the vertical rods of the folder for receiving and guiding the'folded web horizontall and means for receiving the folded 'we and severing it into lengths to form separate articles.

11. In a machine of the character stated, means for feeding a web of pa 1' longitudinally and folding it along its ength to provide side flaps, combined with means for embossing the middle portion of the paper web between the flaps while being, formed with suitable characters at intervals along the length of the web, means for severing the fol ed web at intervals in its length, and connecting means between the severing 95 means and embossing means whereby the severing means is caused to sever the web at points lntermediate of the parts which have been embossed to form separate embossed articles. i

12. In a machine of the character stated, means for feeding a web of paper longitudinally and folding it along its length to provide side flaps, combined with means for embossing the middle portion of the paper 5 web between the flaps while being formed with suitable characters at intervals along the len th of the web, means for severing the fol ed web at intervals in its length, connecting means between the severing means and embossing means whereby the severing means is caused to sever the web at points intermediate of the parts which have beenembossed to form separate embossed articles, and means for receiving and assemblin the successively formed embossed artlcles so that the embossed surfaces PHILIP n. PARSONS.

the same sides of the assem- Witnesses:

R. M. S E. W. SMITH. 

